I have been putting together a list of my favorite free things, and I thought I would share them with you guys and hope that maybe you guys have suggestions of other free stuff of which I may not have heard.
#1- DD-WRT- DD-WRT is a free linux firmware which will turn your 50 dollar router into a 500 dollar firewall. I have used DD-WRT for over a year and I love it. I have used it to tons of business enviroments and it can do so many cool things from Home Page Redirects, to VPN, it does it all. If your router supports DD-WRT, I highly recommend it.
#2- Google Apps- Google Apps is basically a free version of gmail you can setup with your own domain. For example, I own the domain www.BurtsRule.com (my family forum), and using Google Apps I can get email at BurtsRule through google using a gmail type interface. I have set this up for several of my customers and it has really helped a lot of them expand their business by appearing bigger than they are, and just coming across more professionally.
#3- OpenDNS- Is a free DNS server for content filtering. If you are unfamiliar with DNS, it is what translates IP addresses into names (for example when you go to Google.com, you actually are going to 74.125.19.104, and DNS allows us to memorize names instead of numbers). OpenDNS allows you to select what categories you want to block and when you go to access sites, OpenDNS will make sure they meet your site's approved category list (block pornogrpahy, violence, gambling, etc.)
#4- OpenOffice & Thunderbird- Google Docs is also a great program, but I really do like OpenOffice and Thunderbird. OpenOffice can open .Docx but not save as .docx. Thunderbird cannot handle "exchange" email, so if you don't use exchange then it is a great alternative for MS Outlook.
#5- Mint.com- Mint is a free financial program\site. It is made by Intuit (makers of Quickbooks and TurboTax) and you enter in your financial website information (credit cards, bank, house loan, car loan, etc.) and Mint helps you budget and keep a real time control of your finances.
#6- VLC= VLC is the greatest media player out there. It plays everything and installs the codecs which should have come standard in the first place.
#7- FireFox- Firefox is a much safer, faster, more customizable version of Internet Explorer. If you install the "Adblock Plus" add-on you will not see ads on most sites. If you install the WOT add-on you will be warned about malicious sites, The CookieSwap add-on makes sharing a computer very easy, & grease monkey will allow you to further customize individual websites.
I have more I'll post later but my wife needs the computer. I'd love to hear any other programs or free tools you guys recommend.
